Divi Village with a toddler

November 23 - November 29, 2004 by Kush

Travelling with young child (2 and half year)

Flew from Newak, NJ airport by US airways. No delays, reached in time to Aruba via Charelotte. Rented the car (forgot the place) and thank god we did.

Stayed at Divi Village (1BR)

The first unit we got had terrible parking lot view. Upon request, we were given a nice Ocean view unit on 2nd floor, building C. Beautiful view of the ocean from Living Room, Bed Room and even the bath room! We loved this resort. We had to cross a very small road to beach, much less traffic than the road across La Cabana. They have 2 pools, both well kept and nice. The security staff was great and very helpful and so was everyone else. However, the front desk people could use little more ‘friendly’ behavior. Accept for one person name Connor, everyone else had very bad attitude. They forgot we were paying to stay there!

Anyway, we were asked to move back to our original unit on Sunday (We checked out on Monday), since the timeshare owner for that unit was coming in. That was not a big deal, we didn’t mind it. Never ate at their restaurant. But their drinks were decent. I would highly recommend staying at Divi Village, if you want a quiet stay with lot of friendly family people around. We loved it, and the resort has so many wonderful Divi trees giving it a great look. We would definitely go back.

Beach

Beach across the Divi Village is great! Very less crowded. Got a hut everyday easily. Some places are rocky, but once you step in a little bit, it is really smooth! My toddler liked the waters too! Just nice and quite area of the beach and we loved it. The ocean view bar is fabulous to hang out and watch the sun-set.

Things we did

We basically spent time on beach and pool. Apart from that we did

Sunset Cruise: Used Octopus Sailing and it was AWESOME. Very nice people, there were only 12 people on the boat. Provided some good snacks and they took care of us very well since we were the only ones with a child on this boat. Best thing we did on the island.
Baby beach: Enjoyed this too. Specially my toddler. She loved to float on the water and since there were no waves and shallow, we could go really far in the beach with her. Great!
Downtown shopping: Liked the mall, very lively. Just regular shopping!
Manchebo Spa: This was truly heavenly. My husband and daughter enjoyed the Jacuzzi while I went for tropical scrub and 1 hr massage. I have gone to various spas, but this was one of the best. The spa rooms overlook the ocean and it was breath taking. I would highly recommend this spa to anyone who is thinking about it. Enjoyed the beautiful sunset after the massage on the beach! I couldn’t believe it was for real! The beach on Manchebo is great.
Morning walks on the beach: Loved to collect sea-shells and watch the sea-gulls.

Restaurants

We made most of the reservations from US and that’s what I recommend.

Rumba: Very good, loved the food and the dessert.
Sole Mare: Wonderful food, great service.
Marandi: Great food, atmosphere, service. Loved it.
Linda’s pancake: Lovely Dutch pancakes. Only bad thing was, they took too long to get us our food. We waited for more than an hour for the breakfast to arrive! That is challenging when you have a toddler with you.
Que Pasa: This was the only place we did not like! Very stuffy and we didn’t know we were seated in smoking section, that too with our daughter! My husband is vegetarian and his food was horrible. Will not go back.
Calypso (CDM) breakfast buffet: Wonderful. Walked on the beach to get there, ate overlooking the beach and walked back on the beach! What a way to eat breakfast! Great food.
Flying Fishbone: Great place and atmosphere. Food was ok. Since my husband is vegetarian, they said they will make something for him for appetizer, which was only a salad with goat cheese. But they charges $26 for that salad!!
Iguana Joe’s: Loved it. Great food and drinks. Quick too..
Papiamentos: Great atmosphere. Ok food. Nothing too great. But worth the visit. I took the chicken on the hot-stone and it was very very dry for me. Very average desserts too.
Radisson Breakfast buffet: Great place overlooking the lake. Loved it.
Madame Jannette: We had reserved via email and we called when landed in Aruba and requested for the outdoor table. But their staff continue to argue that we didn’t ask for outdoor and she even took the email print-out and showed it. When I said, I asked for it on the phone, she didn’t seem to believe it either! Finally they gave us a table on the porch.. But didn’t like their attitude about this. Food was ok, their bread was delicious! There is a lot of hype on this place which disappoints you in reality.
Villa Germania: I am sorry to say we hated this place. We were in a hurry to head for the airport, and the service was very slow and the food was very average. I wish we had chosen another place.
Amici: We went for some ice-cream. Great place!

Weather was awesome accept for occasional showers and some really heavy rain during the night. My daughter really enjoyed the trip and she was an angel all throughout.

We would definitely love to go back soon.. real soon..

Thanks to everyone who helped me plan this trip.

Kush